John

Well, I have been here almost ten months now. It is hard to believe that my work permit is already half done. I have had so many wonderful experiences so far . . . it is staggering to think that I can do this again for another year! Not that I am going back to LA. Home is London. Home is John. Sorry family, but that is the way it is. I have already looked into renewing my work permit and there are a few agencies interested in me, should TimePlan not renew my contract. I don't think there will be an issue with that, but just in case . . .I am prepared.

Sure the teaching is definitely tougher. But when I get home, I have John to talk to, take care of, go out with, and he takes care of me. It actually gets on my nerves how protective he is sometimes. When I was in LA, I was great at teaching, it was easier, but I didn't have John or his friends. I am so fortunate to have him AND them. I make his friends' girlfriends jealous with the many things he does for me, most recently my spa day and my birthday. I am going to Cabaret on Thursday by the way!!!

Recently I discovered that a few of my elderly relatives may be dying. It got me thinking that maybe they might want to know that I am taken care of. I did kind of spring our relationship on the family all of a sudden without explanation. I know some of you have questions as well, I haven't really informed all of you how we met. So . . . here it goes.

It was my last night in Dublin in June 2005. I had been walking all day with the family from Hope, Indiana that had taken me under their wing. We were to all meet in the hotel pub for a few drinks before the night was over. As we walked into the hotel and went our separate ways, Jimmy, the tour guide, pulled me aside in the lobby and told me that I had to be on the 6 am shuttle. My flight left at 10:3o but the next shuttle after 6 am was a 10 am, and that wouldn't work for an international flight. Well, I still went up, got ready, and met the family down in the pub. I talked with Erin, who was a woman my age in the family, and then went over to hang out with the rest of the family. They were talking to some guys at the edge of the bar. Lo and behold once I began speaking with them I discovered they were English and had just arrived from Bristol on a business trip. Now most of you know, I have always admired the English culture. I consider Jane Austen and Queen Elizabeth I my heroes. So I immediately began talking with one of them about English literature. The conversation went something like this.

Cory: "Oh you're English, I love English literature!"
John: "What, Harry Potter???"
Cory: "No . . . Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy, Charles Dickens, Shakespeare, and Henry Fielding!"
John: "Oh."

After that, John knew I wasn't an ordinary American girl. We discussed many books, movies, and TV series, including the new Lost series. I really enjoyed talking to him. He clumsily flirted with me and I turned him down, but he still kept talking to me, which I gave him props for. It also probably helped that he kept buying me Jameson and Cokes. ;-) Finally, I had to go to sleep if I was going to get up for that shuttle. I told him goodbye, not planning on seeing him again, and he not so smoothly handed me his business card. He says at this point, he didn't plan on seeing me again either, I mean, what are the chances of an Englishman and an American meeting in Ireland of all places, . . . but he thought about me and my smile days after we met.

Anywho, went to sleep, woke up, packed, ate, got on the shuttle, and made it to the airport. While on the airplane I met two more men, Irish students, who were staying in America for three months. We talked for hours and exchanged phone numbers, but they only ever called me once. Meanwhile, I had finally gotten back to my apartment and started to unpack. While preparing my laundry I found John's business card in my jean pocket. I remember thinking, oh he was nice, wouldn't be a bad pen pal. So I wrote him and said that I had a good time talking to him. When he got back from his business trip he wrote me back too. The thing that struck me, was how much he remembered from our conversation. He even remembered that I was a teacher and asked how the kids were treating me.

As we continued to write we became really good friends. John was sort of smitten with me, but I was not with him. First, he wasn't really my type. Second, he was 6,000 miles away. I had just gone through hell and high water with Mike and did not want another impossible relationship. He was always faithful in writing to me but I would sometimes go weeks, even a month before writing him back. Yet, when he came out to visit, I questioned whether I should get into a relationship with him. But again, I didn't. We drove around everywhere, Disneyland, Hollywood, Long Beach, I tried to show him everything. He didn't make a move on me, which I was pleasantly surprised with,a perfect gentleman. I would take his arm occasionally but that was about it. But even then, when my arm was through his, I have to say I did start to feel something. Then he was there when I bought Gidget. I joked with him that it was our cat, because he was there when I got her. After that he would always e-mail me asking how our baby was. Did she eat enough, etc. It was cute.

The two things that really began to sway me in his favour did not happen close together. Basically, I dropped him off at LAX at the end of his visit in February and drove off. But by the time I got home, I realised I missed his company. I even wrote him an e-mail right then and there saying how I missed him and that I had had a really good time hanging out with him. It surprised me how much I missed him. The next thing that happened was when he sent me a birthday present in May of 2006. He gave me a beautiful necklace and a book, but what got me was the book. It was a book on dragons. I love dragons! Yet again, he proved how well he paid attention to what I said and felt. Mom was there when I opened his gift and said he seemed like a nice guy. I said dismissively he wasn't my type, and she said so . . neither was James for Jenny at first. But . . . since Jenny is now Mrs. James Casey, we all know how that turned out. It got me thinking Mom, thanks!

Anywho, about September 2006 I threw myself into therapy after my last failed relationship with an English professor. I also read a quote that said something like I would rather be a young person in therapy and the rest of my life to look forward to rather than an old person in therapy looking back on the life I could have lived. During that time I went through a lot of changes and saw myself a lot differently than I use to. I healed a lot of my hurts and started to break many of the emotional chains that had held me in place for so long. I thought again about my dream to live in London, a dream I hadn't pursued since 2001. I started to look into it, not really telling anyone except my therapist, because I was afraid of discouraging remarks. I figured I had a friend in England and that might make it easier. At the same time, John's company in Bristol was in trouble and he was looking for a new job. He ended up looking for jobs in London and got one with Harper Collins. All the while we were still e-mailing each other as friends. but he would say things like, 'there is no man for you on that side of the Atlantic' or call me beautiful, his American princess, and gorgeous when he addressed me in e-mails. He also listened when we talked, was a great friend, and was always positive about me and my changes. He finally wore me down. I started to have feelings for him.

I didn't really say anything until one day in January when someone from high school found me on my MySpace. This person was extremely annoying back then but I knew he ran into my friend Marsi quite a bit and didn't want to make things difficult for her should she run into him again. So I decided not to block him from my account and added him as a friend. Before I did so, I changed my account to say that I was in a relationship. John noticed and waited for me to announce that I was seeing someone else again. Apparently he hadn't handled the last guy to well, according to his friends. Finally I explained on my own the situation and he acknowledged that it bugged him a little. That is when I bit the bullet and e-mailed him that actually, scared as I was of spoiling our friendship, my heart belonged to him. He e-mailed me immediately from work saying that he felt the same way.

The rest is history. We were pretty much still just friends until I arrived in London last year. Here we are today, still together in London. I can tell you with absolute certainty that I haven't once regretted the day that I turned around and gave him a shot. I do regret that it took me so long to come to my senses, but John keeps telling me that it happened when the time was right and I shouldn't feel guilty.

I come home and there are little gifts waiting for me everyday. Be it a book that he thought might pique my interest, or a meal he thought I might enjoy, he always has something for me. During my last holiday he went out and bought me bagels for breakfast every morning before he went to work. There are so many things that he does for me that I cannot list them all. But I want you to know that I am well taken care of over here. His family and friends sent me numerous cards and gifts for my birthday. I am hardly ever alone, unless I desperately choose to be. John gives me my space, yet will always tell me when he is on his way home, when he has arrived at a work location somewhere in England safely, or when he is going to be late. When we clean house, WE clean the house. He doesn't just sit around and wait for it to be clean, he helps me. When I cook, he does the dishes. When he cooks, I do the dishes. When I start laundry, he finishes it. When I have to take Gidget to the vet, he carries her the whole way on the tube and down the streets.

He will huff and puff when he reads this e-mail, like the traditional English gentleman he is. But, he is so much more than that underneath and I am glad to share that with you. Anywho, hope this answers a lot of your questions.